Chapter Nine - Investigation Report Two

—

[Timeline 3 / May 17, 2021 - The Universe's Courthouse, Paradise - Somewhere off the west coast of North America]

—

Today is the day that Kronii set for my second investigation report. And don't worry, this time around she told me what time I should show up to the council's headquarters.

I took a boat all the way from California to this island, with A-Chan as the driver? Sailor? Anyways, due to the whole boat trip I took, I arrived at 12:17, seventeen minutes later than the appointed time.

As soon as I arrived, I ran towards the front doors of the Universe's Courthouse in a hurry and swung them open, as I rushed towards the throne room.

Now, I'm standing in front of the doors to the throne room, holding the handles anxiously.

I take a deep breath. I've got a lot I want to ask Kronii, I need her to explain everything and clear the doubt Laplus sown into my mind.

I steel my will as I push the doors open, revealing a room full of people looking towards me. I immediately notice five chairs lined up in front of the council's podiums, a girl sitting in each one.

"Amelia! You're late!" Says Shiori, the girl sitting in the chair across from Mumei's podium. "Ehe... sorry about that." I laugh. "Take a seat Amelia." Fauna says, pointing towards the chair placed in front of Kronii.

"Sure, thanks." I walk to my seat and sit down. My chair is placed in the middle, right next to one of my old interviewees, Sakura Miko, who's sitting to my left. And to my right is,

[ Hoshimachi Suisei - The Enforcer ]

"Hey Amelia. I didn't know you were Kronii's chosen." Suisei says as she greets me. "Kronii's chosen?" I tilt my head, confused. "You know, her chosen, the one she lent her power to?" Suisei says, confused about my confusion. "Uuuh..." I mutter, Suisei's words not ringing any bells.

"Amelia, everyone sitting on these chairs here, were given powers by the council."

[ Akai Haato - Holive's "pure" idol ]

"We're called the chosen because the council chose to bless us with their powers." Says Haato, who's sitting across from Bae.

"You didn't know about that Amelia?" Miko asks. "No. Nobody tells me anything around here." I say with a deadpan expression. Seriously, why doesn't anyone explain anything unless I go like, 'hmm? What's that?'

"Why did you gather all of us here?" I look up and ask Kronii. I'll interrogate her about the chimera after I understand the current situation.

"I've gathered all of the chosen here because this is the most important meeting we'll have regarding the Cthullu situation." Kronii explains. "In this meeting, we will discuss our plan of action against Cthullu's awakening, and I will make an important announcement."

The most important meeting huh? It makes Kronii explaining herself all the more important. I can't proceed with this plan if I have any doubts.

I stand up ask Kronii sternly, "Why did you order the creation of the chimera?" Kronii reacts with an unexpected face, a face of utter confusion. "Chimera? What are talking about?"

What? Being a detective, I can tell if someone is lying by their facial expression and body language. And right now, the expression Kronii's making is genuine. But I need to press a little bit more, maybe she's really good at faking her reactions.

"The objective of the mission where I visited Secret Society's hideout was to kill a chimera, a beast made from the corpses of different living beings, that was running loose in their basement." I say. "After we completed the mission, La told me that you ordered the creation of the chimera, a killing machine, as a defence against Cthullu's awakening. And seeing as La Darkness is the former god of knowledge, I have no reason to believe that she didn't know what she was talking about." I explain, looking up towards Kronii as I await her response.

After a few seconds, Kronii stares me in the eyes. "Amelia." Her commanding presence forcing an immediate response from me. "Yes..?"

"Why would I want to create a killing machine if Hoshimachi Suisei is sitting right there?" Kronii says without a hint of emotion, like she was stating an obvious fact. I look to my right, and Suisei has nothing to say as she smiles casually at me.

No, Suisei is my kind senpai, she wouldn't do something like kill someone... right? But, if she really is what Kronii implies that she is, then what did she do with Cali in Germany?

I remain standing as I look back up at Kronii. "On February five, twenty-twenty one, Hoshimachi Suisei and Mori Calliope went to Hololive Germany's office for 'collaborative purposes'. One day later, all information regarding Hololive Germany was erased from the internet. One week later, I went to Hololive Germany's office to investigate. The office didn't exist. The entire building had vanished, like it wasn't there to begin with." Before I finish, I take a deep breath. At this point, Suisei is glaring at me.

"Kronii, what happened to Hololive Germany?" I ask, breathing heavily and shakily, because of the two blue haired girl's stares.

Suisei stands up from her chair and grabs me by the shoulder. She turns me around to face her, and stares at me coldly. "Nothing happened to Hololive Germany." She says. "A crazy fan found out the office's location, so we transferred offices and got rid of the old building."

I can't trust anything that Suisei's saying, her cold responses are dismissive and don't tell me anything. Right now, there's only one person I want to hear from.

"Kronii... what did you make Cali do to Hololive Germany?"

"Nothing happened to Hololive Germany, Amelia. Nothing happened."

I fall onto my seat, unable to keep up with the exasperating conversation I just had.

Kronii wasn't lying about the chimera, or at least, I don't think she was. But my detective instincts are telling me one thing. Kronii and Suisei are definitely lying about Hololive Germany.

I don't know what they did exactly, but why would Kronii send in the death god and the person she calls a death machine to Hololive Germany just to tell them that they're changing offices?

But what if I'm just making assumptions? Suisei and Cali are a part of Hololive, maybe it's just a coincidence that they were chosen to go to Hololive Germany's office?

But if all that they wanted to do was change offices, why did they have to wipe all information about it from the internet? And why won't Kronii tell me anything? Cali's involved, what does she think? I asked Kronii what happened looking for answers, and all I got was more questions.

But I have to trust Kronii, it's no use doubting her when I don't even know if she did anything wrong. All that would do is hinder the mission's progress, and I can't afford to fail. The world and one of best friend's life is at stake.

"Is that all that you wanted to ask?" Kronii asks as she looks down on me. "Yeah." I respond timidly. "And were all of your suspicions cleared?" Kronii adds. "They were." I say with the same tone.

"I'm glad you understand, Amelia~" Suisei says in a cutesy voice, smiling sweetly, contrary to her cold demeanour earlier.

Kronii sighs and claps her hands. "Alright, lets start the meeting." Everyone then shifts their attention towards Kronii as she continues to speak. "These past few months, we've been working with Laplus Darkness and Hakos Baelz as our primary suspects."

"You know, I never understood why I was a primary suspect. I've been a good girl for at least five centuries." Bae interrupts. "Hold on, you've been bad at least once during my lifetime?" Mumei says, looking shiftily at the god of chaos. "Hehe, yeah... it was a fun time." Bae chuckles to herself. "So you're not gonna tell me what you did?" Mumei says, disappointed.

"You're considered a suspect because of your unpredictable personality." Fauna says. "And you're the only one besides Kronii and Laplus who's powerful enough to kill Sana." Bae blushes, "Aww~ thank you~ I'm flattered."

Kronii rolls her eyes at Bae's joke and continues to speak. "Throughout the months that we've been monitoring Bae, she's just been her regular level of suspicious." Bae perks up and looks at Kronii. "Hey! What do you mean by 'regular level of suspicious'?"

Suisei quickly grabs the axe resting in her chair and swings it to her right, stopping just before it hits Haato's neck. "Oi, Baelz! If you don't stop interrupting the meeting, I'll chop your chosen's head off." Hearing Suisei's threat, all Bae does is laugh and kick her feet up on her podium. "Ha! Even is you cut off her head, Haato would live." Haato starts sweating profusely as she raises her hands in submission. "Hey... don't go saying things like that."

"Why don't we all just settle down and behave ourselves, Okay?" Fauna says, trying to resolve the situation. "Or else, Kronii will punish all of you troublemakers."

Fearing the prospect of Kronii's punishment, Suisei lowers her weapon and Bae settles down and sits properly in her seat.

Fauna smiles as she puts her hands together. "Great, now that we're all settled down, we can continue the meeting."

"Basically, discussing Bae's actions is a waste of time since her unpredictable personality means that she can just decide to kill me at any random time." Sana says. Bae tries to make a retort, but a quick glance from Kronii shuts her up.

"What about Laplus Darkness? Did you learn any new information Amelia?" Mumei asks me. "When I asked her about her intentions on awakening Cthullu, she told me that she didn't have a motive." I say, "And she told me that without her [shed] form, she wouldn't be strong enough to take on the council."

"So if she had her [shed] form, she would be able to take on the council?" Mumei asks. "That's why I think that Laplus is trying to unseal her power. So she can stand a chance against the council." I respond confidently.

"But who would be able to unseal Laplus?" Mumei asks. "My best guess is that it's Indonesia's Kaela Kovalskia. She definitely has the skills to create a replica of Bae's key." I reply.

"So she might be able to regain her [shed] form, but why would she want to awaken Cthullu?" Miko retorts. "Laplus was defeated by the council once before, right? Maybe she wants to awaken Cthullu so that she can have an ally in defeating the council." I suggest.

"It definitely sounds like something Laplus would do, allying with someone else to overthrow the council." Mumei says, considering my suggestion. "Shiori, are there any predictions about what happens after Cthullu's awakening?" Kronii asks. "There aren't any predictions about what happens directly after Cthullu's awakening. The next prediction I have is for twenty-twenty four." Shiori replies as she's shifting through her papers.

"And what's that prediction about?" Haato asks. "Uh... it says: A presumed extinct species of Atlantian fish will be found on the shores of Paris in the summer months." Shiori says, reciting one of the paper's contents.

"Are you serious? Laplus thought that Atlantian fish was important enough to write about, but she couldn't bother to write about what happens after Cthullu's awakening." Suisei complains. "That's just how these predictions are..." Shiori sighs.

"Hey Amelia, why don't we see if Kaela's up to anything suspicious right now?" Bae asks with a big smile on her face. "What do you mean?" I tilt my head in confusion.

"We have an ally who can see everything." Bae says. "Why don't we call her in?"

Bae takes out her phone and gives someone a call, the phone ringing as Bae places it next to her ear.

Riiiing*

Riiiiing*

"Raora! Bonjour!" Bae greets the person on the other side of the call. "I know you're Italian, I'm just being funny... Anyways, come over to the throne room, yeah? We need you for the investigation."

"She should be here soon." Bae says as she have up and puts her phone back into her pocket.

Shortly after, we hear the sound of footsteps outside. Slowly, they get louder and louder until they reach the doors to the throne room. Then, the doors open as a pink haired girl enters the room.

"Ciao! Good afternoon everyone."

[ Raora Panthera - God's Picasso ]

"All of you chosen, this is Raora Panthera, she's part of the council's Justice team. Her ability, the God Eyes, allows her to see anything that she searches for no matter how far away or hidden it is." Bae explains. "I'm surprised that you didn't call for me sooner." Raora says. "I'm surprised that you didn't offer to help out in the investigation sooner." Shiori remark sarcastically. "Hey, I was busy with... other things... (Chattini)" Raora blushes as she says her lazy excuse.

"Raora, could you look inside of Kaela's forge for us?" Bae asks. "Okay, searching for Kaela Kovalskia's forge." Raora says, taking in a deep breath.

Shortly after, Raora's eyes open wide as light quickly shoots out from them, the rays spreading across the room. Then, just seconds after she activated her ability, Raora's eyes go back to normal as she makes her report.

"Okay, big news. I saw Kaela working on something." Raora says, the news causing Kronii to perk up. "What was it!?" Kronii asks hurriedly. "It's hard to tell, but It was small, like, the size of a key." Raora recalls. "Maybe it's just a small part of a bigger project." Haato suggests. "But I don't see any other pieces lying about." Raora says, her ability active again.

"Just a sneaking suspicion is enough for me." Kronii says. "It's about time that I make that important announcement."

Every one of the chosen puts their full attention towards Kronii as she begins to explain.

"The council is going to host a battle royale." Kronii's statement leaves us stunned, a battle royale? What could she have in mind? "The idea is that we'll use the battle royale as a cover while the real goal is to apprehend Laplus." Kronii continues her explanation.

"Wait, why a battle royale?" Suisei interjects. "Because not even the god of knowledge would expect a surprise attack during a battle royale. I mean, the idea of a battle royale itself is already grandiose enough as is. Everyone will think that it's some lighthearted company event and not think twice about it. We'll also be banning [shed] forms and all Kaela made weapons, weakening Laplus and Secret Society. Also, due to the nature of the battle royale, they'll be less on gaurd and they won't go for any lethal attacks when fighting." Kronii explains. "I see... it's kinda weird, but it makes sense." Suisei says.

"So, what's the plan?" Shiori asks. "The other reason for this battle royale is to gauge the current power of each Hololive member, so I'll have you all play normally for the first twenty minutes." Kronii explains. "After the twenty minutes are up, Suisei will locate Laplus and capture her. After Raora, who will be monitoring everything, sees that Laplus has been apprehended, Sana will teleport Suisei and Laplus to the Universe's Courthouse. If Kaela created a replica of the key to Laplus's shackles, we'll detain the both of them in the 'Cell'. If Kaela didn't create the key for Laplus's shackles, we'll only imprison Laplus and keep her in the 'Cell' until the time of the prophecy has passed."

"Wait, I have a question." I tell Kronii. "And what might that be?" She asks. "What will happen if someone defeats Laplus before Suisei does? Will we carry out the plan anyways, or will we take a new course of action?" I ask Kronii and she responds with a sure expression. "We don't have to worry about Laplus being defeated before Suisei gets to her. Knowing the Secret Society, they'll be together at all times. The only people who could defeat the entirety of the Secret Society are Suisei, Shion, Kaela, and Coco, Moona and Fubuki in their [shed] forms. Seeing as we'll be banning the use of [shed] forms and keeping Kaela out of the competition, the only person who has a chance at defeating Laplus is Murasaki Shion."

"And why shouldn't we worry about Shion defeating Laplus?" I ask. "Murasaki Shion isn't a fighter who likes to take unnecessary risks. She'll probably spend the first twenty minutes fighting less risky opponents." Kronii explains.

"So... if Suisei will be out there fighting Laplus, what will the rest of us chosen do?" Miko asks. "The rest of you will be on standby, in case Laplus gets to be too much for Suisei." Kronii responds.

"Humph! I won't need any backup to defeat that small fry." Suisei scoffs. "Normally, yes. But there's a chance that Laplus manages to regain her [shed] form somehow, and maybe you'll hurt yourself while picking a fight with Fubuki." Sana says. "Hurting myself while fighting Fubuki? I take that as an insult." Suisei jokes.

"Standby, huh? I was looking forward to some action." Shiori complains. "Hey, standby's good for me." Haato remarks.

"Though it was originally supposed to take place in August, we'll be hosting the battle royale next week." Kronii says. "Next week? Isn't that a little too soon?" I ask. "Kaela's a master blacksmith, a week is the maximum amount of time it would take for her to forge something like a key, no matter how complex it may be." Kronii explains.

"And what will we be doing during that week before the battle royale?" Suisei asks. "During that week, we'll be monitoring Kaela using Raora's ability. If Kaela finishes the key before the week is over, we'll take it from her before she has a chance to give it to Laplus. And if she doesn't, we'll proceed with the plan as is." Kronii explains.

"And what if Kaela isn't creating a key?" Miko asks. "We'll carry out the plan anyways." Kronii replies.

After some more short discussion, the meeting comes to a close, Kronii confirming some details with us before sending us home. After saying goodbye to everyone, I make my towards the doors when Kronii suddenly stops me.

"Amelia wait, you reversed time on November sixteenth, two thousand-twenty. What for?" Kronii asks me. "Oh... I uh... wanted to beat a six year old at Mario Kart." I say ashamedly as I walk out. All Kronii does is stare at me with a look of utter disappointment.

—

Author's notes:

Hey, Yur3i here! I just wanna say that I was absolutely flabbergasted on the support that this story got. I know that this story only has three followers (and one of them is my brother.) but the fact that two real people thought that my story was interesting enough to follow is really cool to me. So, thank you to everyone who read the story up to this point, I'm glad that I get to share this story to other people.

Anyways, this chapter is another exposition chapter, but! It's also the last one, for stage zero at least. The next chapters will be the climactic end to stage zero. I'm really excited because stage zero is like the set up phase of this story, so we'll be getting to the real meat and potatahs in stage one.

But don't get me wrong though, the battle royale is gonna be hype as hell (or at least, that's how I'll try to make it.) that will be your first taste of member on member action. Wait... that sounds kinda wrong.

Lastly, right as I finished writing this chapter, Aqua announced her retirement. I'm not gonna make this into a heartfelt goodbye message or something, but I just wanna say, "damn, I'm bummed out."

I still haven't figured out how to end these authors notes, so... uh... goodbye for now.